Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the President's nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Senate has no more important responsibility than to advise and consent on nominations to our Nation's highest Court. It will be an honor on behalf of the people of my State to cast my vote to confirm Elena Kagan.

Ms. Kagan is a distinguished lawyer with a remarkable legal background. She brings very diverse experiences to the Court that I believe will add to the important perspective of the high Court as it reviews cases of critical importance to the American people.

Throughout her career she has been a legal trailblazer and a role model. She will be the fourth woman to serve on the high Court, and for the first time in history, three women will be serving on the bench when oral arguments are heard this fall. Her nomination marks an historic milestone of progress for women in the legal profession and in serving as leaders for our Nation.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Ms. Kagan began her career as a law clerk to former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who like her, served as Solicitor General prior to being promoted to the high Court. Justice Marshall made history as the first African-American Solicitor General at the time and Ms. Kagan has followed suit as the first female Solicitor General.

Following her clerkship, Ms. Kagan worked in the private sector where she handled first amendment, commercial and criminal litigation. She then served in the highest ranks of academia as a law professor. This ultimately led to her becoming dean at the Harvard Law School, one of our nation's most prestigious institutions. Her ascension to dean marked the first time in Harvard Law School's 186-year history that a woman held this position. As dean, Ms. Kagan bridged ideological divides among faculty, recruiting professors from across the ideological spectrum, managing the largest and most prestigious law school in our nation and improving the quality of life for students.

Prior to becoming dean, Ms. Kagan served in high legal and policy positions in the Clinton administration, where she learned the operations of the executive and legislative branches of our government, which will help the Court better understand how policy judgments are made and the effect that the decisions of our government and courts have on the lives of everyday Americans.

Most recently, Ms. Kagan has dutifully served our Nation as the U.S. Solicitor General. The Solicitor General is often referred to as the 10th Justice because of the frequency that he or she appears before the Court on behalf of the United States. This experience exposed Ms. Kagan to nearly every case that has come before the current Court and she has had to weigh all of the same legal considerations as the current Justices prior to deciding the position of the U.S. Government. Few positions provide better preparation for the high Court.

While she has not previously served as a judge, though she was previously nominated to be one, I see her varied background as an asset. We need different life experiences on the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Ms. Kagan will be the first nonjudge since former Chief Justice William Rehnquist was nominated by former President Richard Nixon.

Her mix of professional experience will help ensure that we do not have a Court out of touch with the American people. Ms. Kagan has taught the law in the classroom, practiced in the public and private sector, worked in the judiciary as a clerk and crafted the policies of the executive branch. Everywhere she has worked, Ms. Kagan has excelled. Her experience is the kind of experience we should aspire for all of our justices to have before serving on the high Court.

The Supreme Court is too important to not hold our justices to high standards of intellect and achievement--a standard Ms. Kagan meets. It is our best and brightest who should serve in these important positions. We need Justices who respect precedent, hew closely to the text of the law and do not pursue an agenda from the bench.

We do not need activist judges whether they come from the right or left. The American people do not want an ideologically driven Supreme Court that is pursuing a political agenda. We want a Court that respects precedent and helps resolve the legal questions of our time as they affect our daily lives.

I would like to close by thanking outgoing Justice John Paul Stevens for his service to our country. Justice Stevens presided on the Court during a period of great change and accomplishment for our nation. He is a member of the Greatest Generation and is a true patriot for his service during World War II. Justice Stevens has been an intellectual heavyweight on the bench and provided a voice of reason even while we have seen the Court drift so heavily in favor of the most powerful interests. He has left large shoes to fill and will be missed.

President Obama has nominated someone who can fill these shoes. Because of the breadth and diversity of her experience, Elena Kagan has a profound understanding of the law and effect the Supreme Court has on the lives of all Americans. She is an intellectual heavyweight in her own right and will help the Court bridge the divides of recent years.

I am proud to commit my vote in favor of this nominee.

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